Seewer Seventh at Spanish Grand Prix

17-10-2021

Seewer Seventh at Spanish Grand Prix

The 13th round of the FIM Motocross World Championship in Madrid, Spain, presented its challenges for the Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team. Jeremy Seewer was the quickest of the trio around the rutty and choppy man-made intu Xanadu Arroyomolinos circuit. He finished seventh. Meanwhile, Glenn Coldenhoff faced some adversity and finished 13th, while Ben Watson had to withdraw after the first race due to an injury sustained at the MXGP of France one week ago.

The Spanish Grand Prix got off to a sensational start for Seewer and Watson. Seewer scored himself a great place on the gate after posting the fifth-fastest time in Timed Practice, while Watson qualified inside the top-10 for the first time in his MXGP class career. He was 10th.

The one-day format that has been introduced as a result of the coronavirus pandemic does not favour riders that have switched manufacturers for the 2021 season. Riders like Glenn Coldenhoff, who was new to Yamaha at the start of the year, now enters each Grand Prix with no prior experience racing specific circuits on their new motorcycles. At the beginning of each Grand Prix, the riders only get 40-minutes on the track before lining up for the races, and in that same 40-minutes, they must complete one fast lap to qualify for gate-pick. While trying to find a comfortable bike set-up, Coldenhoff ended the session in 12th.

Fired up after a challenging practice session, Coldenhoff blasted out of the gate and quickly passed Romain Febvre to complete the opening lap of Race 1 in second position. The ‘259’ was running a hot pace, but as the MXGP title protagonists found their rhythm, he ended up being shuffled back to fifth.

With less than 10-minutes on the clock, the championship leader Jeffrey Herlings tried to go around the outside of his Dutch compatriot, Coldenhoff. The duo came together, which caused ‘The Hoff’ to crash. After remounting his YZ450FM, he ended up finishing 10th.

Seewer got off to a strong start in Race 1 but was edged back to sixth amidst the frantic bar-banging action on the opening lap. From there, the ‘91’ managed to pass his teammate, Coldenhoff, for fifth, which is where he finished at the end of the 18-lap race.

In front of an enormous, wild and boisterous Spanish crowd, both Coldenhoff and Seewer got off to decent starts in the final race of the weekend. Coldenhoff fell from seventh and struggled to bounce back. He finished 14th, while Seewer felt out of his comfort zone but still toughed out an eighth-place finish.

After a season-best start to the Spanish Grand Prix, Watson did his best to collect points despite an ankle injury. The 24-year-old MXGP rookie suffered through some pain and discomfort in the opening race and was able collect two-points for 19th. Unfortunately, he twisted his injured ankle during Race 1 and did not line up for Race 2.

The team now shifts its focus to the next three rounds of the FIM Motocross World Championship that will take place in Pietramurata, Italy, on Sunday 24th, Wednesday 27th and Sunday 31st October.

Seewer and Coldenhoff remain sixth and eighth in the MXGP Championship Standings, while Watson is 13th.

For full results from the MXGP of Spain, click here.

Jeremy Seewer

7th MXGP of Spain, 29-points

“Things are definitely improving for me. I struggled here in Spain last year on this track, so I feel that we've made a big improvement in terms of my riding and feeling on the track. Still, I hoped for more because I felt good and I had good speed and a good time in Timed Practice. I have something to work on in the first two turns because I get good starts, but it just seems that I am at the wrong place at the wrong time, so when I enter the first corner second, somehow in the chaos before turn two, I end up around sixth. After that, I pick it up quickly, but if you’re like me and not in top shape, it’s really hard to move forward to the front again because the racing is so close. You need to be 100%. I got solid points today. I did my best. I need to keep working on myself, keep pushing to improve my condition, and also with the team and the bike, we have some work to do to get back on the podium, so we will keep pushing.”

Glenn Coldenhoff

13th MXGP of Spain, 18-points

“This morning we tried a few things and played with the set-up, but it was quite difficult with the limited time to do this. So, we didn’t get quite to where I wanted to be, but I tried my hardest. Every time I go out, I try my hardest. It felt okay in the first moto. I had a really good start. I was third and then moved to second. I had a few guys pass me and then I came together with Jeffrey (Herlings) and went down, so I only managed to finish 10th. My start was not as good in the second race, but still alright, and my riding and feeling was the same as in the first race. I also had another small crash and then was 14th. Honestly, not where I want to be or where we want to be. I am quite disappointed, but we will keep working hard to get back to where we should be.”

Ben Watson

22nd MXGP of Spain, 2-points

“I had a good start to the day. After twisting my ankle last weekend, I tried not to ride too much in qualifying. I had a good feeling and managed to get a better lap time this weekend. Unfortunately, during race 1, I put my foot down like usual and just re-tweaked my foot. I felt good, but of course, with only one week it just wasn’t quite strong enough. We decided to miss the second moto in order not to make things worse and hopefully be able to go to arco feeling myself again.”